The Irish semester” “

The European Union is back on track, in spite of the many obstacles in the way of European integration. The Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, 14 January, outlined the programme of the six months’ Irish Presidency of the EU, and promised his support to the Commission and the EP, both of which have submitted to him various still outstanding problems. priorities of the Irish semester. Ahern underlined some priority commitments: the resumption of negotiations to give a Constitution to a 25-member Europe; EU enlargement, with everything that will involve on the level of the institutions, the redistribution of Community funds and unity on the cultural level; the financial reform, to ensure sufficient resources to EU policies; the re-launch of the “Lisbon strategy”, with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of the continental economy; and a foreign policy based on stable and constructive relations with neighbouring countries and with the USA. “Our main objective – said the Irish premier, who began his speech by saluting the assembly in Gaelic – consists in achieving results that may have a positive impact on the lives of European citizens”: employment, security and healthcare must be placed at the top of the agenda of the institutions. To give a constitutional Treaty to the Union, the President of the Council said he was ready to re-open the intergovernmental Conference as soon as he had received sufficient assurances that the individual states are willing to reach an agreement. As for the financial prospects, these will be discussed at the summit in March, traditionally dedicated to economic questions. Full support of the Commission. The President of the Commission Romano Prodi, in his address to the EP, emphasised that the events of the next few months will mark “the future of the Union for many years to come”. “The 1st May – he explained – will be a great festivity, aimed in particular at the young, from whom we have so much to learn, especially in moments of difficulty, when it seems that the impetus to embrace the future is lacking”. Prodi explicitly promised the Commission’s support to the Irish Presidency, and expressed appreciation of the decision to reinforce the EU’s external relations through “a strong and effective multilateralism”. The President of the Commission insisted a great deal on “economic growth founded on knowledge and innovation. Investments in education, vocational training and research are not just a theoretical problem, but an objective to be immediately pursued”. Speaking off the cuff after the session, Prodi expressed the hope that the member states would not decide to reduce their funding to the Union: “In Europe we need to establish new research centres, not least because no less that 400,000 researchers have emigrated from EU countries to the USA in recent times”. The positions of MEPs. The Irish programme gave rise to a wide-ranging debate. The German MEP and European People’s Party leader Hans-Gert Poettering, stressed that “for the EPP the Constitution represents the priority of priorities. The failure of the Brussels Summit must not mean the failure of the draft Constitution”. The head of the socialist group, Spanish MEP Enrique Baron Crespo, insisted on the importance of the “Lisbon strategy, which must lead to full employment, equal opportunities for men and women, social cohesion and technological development”. Graham Watson, English liberal democratic, said that “enlargement cannot be separated from the process of constitutional revision” and hoped that “the European elections in June would be preceded by a single pan European campaign rather than twenty-five national campaigns”. Francis Wurtz, French MEP and exponent of the united Left, noted that “the difficulties that the Irish Presidency will have to tackle do not just concern the Constitution as many claim. That is only the symptom of a deeper ill”. And he cited the “crises of the Stability Pact, of the policies of solidarity and of foreign policy”. He also asked for greater commitment to employment. Ian Paisley (non-affiliated group), from Northern Ireland, argued that as regards the Constitution “the Union must decide in a democratic way, and therefore the Treaty must be subjected to a referendum”. The Luxembourg socialist Robert Goebbels asked: “We have to concentrate on employment and economic growth, but where is the money to invest?” He therefore called for new resources to be ploughed into the EU by member states.